Saturday, October 3, 2009

Deadwood Roleplay Characters

The Deadwood Memorial Library in the out-of-character area of Deadwood 1876 currently has an exhibit entitled "Drawn from the Past: Deadwood Roleplay Characters Inspired by Real History." (More information on the exhibit can be found in the Journal of Miz Dio Kuhr.)

Ten Deadwood characters explain their real-life inspirations, how their characters differ from their RL counterparts, and, most interesting to me, the artistic choices about why those differences exist.Although all the characters are, of course, part amalgamation and part outright invention, some noted multiple real-world inspirations. Some had a specific person in mind from the outset, while others developed the character and then discovered that a historical figure was similar to the character.

The library itself contains volumes of use to people roleplaying in the Black Hills of the Dakotas in the late 19th century, including sections on weapons, Chinese labor, and prostitution. (I averted my eyes from the latter, of course. :) ) The RP area of Deadwood has another, more period library, limited to books published before 1878. I wonder how they survive without books on the uses of cavorite, or building a ray gun?

All that larnin' makes a gal kinda thirsty, so I ponied up to the bar and downed a coupla shots o' white lightnin', and everything was jes' fine again.

Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes, make haste and visit this exhibit. Unlike the rest of Deadwood, the OOC area is open to all.